Crynwyr yng Nghymru CALON Issue no. / Rhif. 34 Quakers in Wales

Newsletter of Meeting of Friends in Wales

Cylchlythyr Cyfarfod y Cyfeillion yng Nghymru September 2020 Medi

Many of you will have been at Meeting of Friends in Wales held in June this year via Zoom. Unfortunately I had to leave early but I was really sad to do that because it was all so interesting, and was very well organised. There were 73 Friends present that day: 52 Friends was, I think, the largest MFW I had previously attended.

I was really impressed by the work that some Friends had been putting in MFW’s future. That’s not to say, of course, that Zoom meetings should always be held – it is good to meet up with F/friends at MFW; but maybe, in the future, more will be held online. We are learning from Coronavirus that we should think harder about the way we work. With Area Meeting Sunday online meetings I noticed that in the early days often there were more Friends present from my own meeting than we previously saw most Sundays. But of course we miss having time to chat over coffee and biscuits, making arrangements etc. Friends obviously felt safe online – some of us still do feel that way.

Now of course we’re discussing blended meetings, etc. Certainly in Bangor we will be experimenting. This is not my area of expertise really but as Trustee responsible for Bangor Mtg I need to learn; or at least to ensure there are sufficient Friends who know what they are talking about!

Perhaps Friends might share for the next Calon the lighter activities that happen in their AMs in these Coronavirus evenings. In North Wales we occasionally hold a Noson Lawen, organised by Ruth Moore Williams and Eleri Elliot. We have songs, poems, stories, general fun and limericks!

Probably you may know by now that Jules Montgomery has decided it’s time to move on, and she has therefore handed in her resignation. I have worked with Jules for many years, not just as editor of Calon but also as clerk of Meeting of Friends in Wales. I have so enjoyed our long chats of an afternoon or an evening – often we would forget what the original reason for the call was

because the enjoyment in reminiscing and sharing carried us away.

This does, however, leave the role of Administrator vacant. There will be an advert for this post towards the end of this edition of Calon.

I have two different poets sharing this time. The poem from Fiona brought into my mind the evening walks Martin and I sometimes take – Martin always takes photos and I was reminded of those walks by Fiona’s words. So the photos have made it onto the page as well. Stevie’s poem reminds me of an amazing rainbow last week crossing over Ynys Mon.

This is Martin’s sketch of me at the computer many years ago when my office was in the bedroom. Hmm! What a mess my desk is – almost as bad as it is now!

Editor: Ros Morley

In Gwynedd the Quakers are scattered and, up till now, this has mattered

but learning IT has set us all free

and our previous limits are shattered

~ Frances Voelcker – Porthmadog

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In by the side door – or getting

‘Quaker’ on the local radar

Christine Trevett – Bridgend Meeting

We were all born somewhere, raised somewhere,

now live somewhere and worship somewhere and

so the local has figured in our history all the time.

I was born a short walk from the Friends’ burial

ground (1667) in the village of Quakers’ Yard – so

locally the word ‘Quaker’ was in the air all the

time. No one (least of all me) knew much about

Quakers or the history of the place. I left it in

1965. Yet now that I’m locally again that local

place name has made it easier to flag up to others

Friends’ past and present existence and their

concerns – it’s a useful hook to hang a

conversation on when people know little about us.

The small ‘walled-about’ burial ground is in the centre to the

right of the bridge in this early 1900s image of Quakers’

Yard; with the town of Treharris above it. Photo courtesy of http://www.alangeorge.co.uk/quakers_yard

In these paragraphs I’m sharing with Calon

something I’ve been doing for a while. Others

might like to take it up too, though even as I write

I’m hoping that this won’t ‘out’ me to the locals

concerned, so that I’ll have to stop doing it …

What it is, is not a banner-bearing kind of flagging-

up of Quakerism. It’s more a kind of ‘get it in their

peripheral vision’ approach. It came out of

realising that a lot of people don’t know that

Quakers (if they have heard of them at all) still

exist. I found that quite often, when doing talks to

local history societies and family history groups

over the last decade or so.

People may be wary of the unfamiliar, too,

especially when it’s wrapped up in unusual

sounding language. Meeting for what? they

sometimes ask, and I’ve been told that Quaker

sounds ‘creepy’ (made a change from the more

usual ‘Do Quakers own Quaker Oats?’) So a

gradual exposure to the fact of Quakers is what

I’ve been aiming for, using means open to me.

Here are some questions: does your area have a

Local History Society? Does that Society have a

publication – anything from a newsletter or

occasional leaflets or pamphlets to an annual

volume of local history which in turn gets into

libraries? Are there bloggers and the like out

there, writing about your community past and

present and inviting contributions? Does your

local or regional library produce anything (a

newsletter for example) on the local history front?

Does a local newspaper welcome pieces which

shed a different light on people/places/history/

events? Is there a free community publication

(rich with adverts for local restaurants, tree

surgeons and plumbers) which has short items of

local interest in it? All are possible opportunities

to offer to write something. It might be seen by

more than the usual suspects who know of us

anyway through a local peace group or political

party or voluntary work and so on. It’s another

way of keeping ‘out there’ the fact of Friends

and/or those things we value. Also in offering, you

may well be making some hard-pressed editor’s/

blogger’s/librarian’s day!

So how might I get ‘outed’? Perhaps by Calon

appearing online. I co-edit the annual publication

of a Local Historical Society, though it isn’t my

own local one. In the first 23 volumes of its history

there had been 368 items and just two (both

related to 17th century religious dissent in the

area) mentioned Quakers. One of them did so

almost in passing; the second, as the subject.

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Five more years passed after volume 23 by which

time I was editing. The first issue had two pieces

where Friends figured - one of those I’d written

and Quakers were referred to a number of times

(but not as the main subject); another

contribution from a local writer was about the

town’s allotments, including reflection on the

Friends’ Allotment Scheme in The Distressed Areas

during the Depression.

Had this sudden influx of things Quaker been

noticed? If it had, no one said so. The subsequent

four volumes have included a piece on a 19th

century MP for the region who was dubbed

‘Apostle of Peace’ and on the local woman, three

of whose sons perished in the First World War,

and who did the formal opening of The Temple of

Peace in Cardiff – these plus something on

women, equality and the suffrage struggle locally

and (yes I wrote it) a blatant bit of up-front late

19th/early 20th century local Quaker history. It was

woven around reminiscences given in an interview

to Quakers in England some years ago, by an

elderly woman Friend who had spent her first

twenty years (1893–1913) in the South Wales

town concerned.

It’s properly local. It’s properly historical. It is, we

hope, interesting and about telling tales which are

largely untold. In terms of that Historical Society’s

recent-ish output such items are a small part of

the whole but ‘it’ is there too, for the radar to

register. There are some more topics in the pipe-

line – the 19th century Welsh League of Nations

Union, and a woman Friend (honoured in 1937)

who was in the thick of their social work initiatives

during the Depression. It’s all good stuff (usually

not by me), but will I get ‘eldered’ soon, I wonder.

Go on, offer to write something in your neck of

the woods – bite size, pithy or something longer –

it doesn’t have to be weighty Quaker history.

There must be many possibilities, depending on

where you want it to go: Nature notes on a

Friends’ burial ground? A walk to take in places

with local Quaker, or peaceability or social justice

etc. associations? A link with the history of your

Meeting House, if you have one, its place in the

community? A local notable? Whatever you write

need not necessarily be about Quakers as such,

but all kinds of things can come in through the

side door.

The Guslar Ros Morley – Bangor Meeting

I first saw this man in the market square in Ljubljana, capital of Slovenia. He was playing the gusla, and gently singing words. We were told by his companion that the guslar (one who plays the gusla) was from Serbia and had been made homeless after the wars (1991–99). The guslar was speaking a story to the sound of his instrument – the companion said that it was custom in his country.

I was amazed. We were staying in Bohinj in the Julian Alps and travelled to Ljubljana for the day. I had taken, for my holiday reading, a book titled The Tiger’s Wife by Téa Obreht. In early stages of the book, the main character was among a group of men (guslars) taking part in annual competition to see who could tell the best story. These stories could take a long time and all were spoken alongside the playing of the gusla.

The following year we went back to Slovenia and stayed in Bled. We went by train so started this part of the holiday in Ljubljana. He was playing his instrument outside the visitor centre. The following year we returned and he was there still. Last year we didn’t go back to Slovenia and this year – well we didn’t go anywhere! I would love to know if he is still there.

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Nos Hydref

©Fiona Owen, Holyhead Meeting

Mae'n nos nawr. Noson fawr. Jyst ti a fi a'r distawrwydd. Gwynt tywyll tu allan, glaw ar y ffenest: patrymau gonest fel alawon cyfarwydd.

Autumn Evening It’s night-time, now. Wrapping night. Just you and me and the silence. Dark wind outside, rain at the window: honest patterns like familiar tunes.

Photos by Martin Morley

Safle we: cefndir cyffredinol

Huw Meredydd Owen - Pwllheli Meeting

Ymhell cyn i’r Anafwch gyrraedd y gwanwyn hwn, mi roedd hi’n amlwg fod mwy o waith y Crynwyr yng Nghymru yn mynd i ddigwydd ar-lein, a bod angen safle we fwy hylaw i fedru ymdrin â’r gwaith. Dros gyfnod o rai misoedd bu cryn dipyn o drafod a holi, beth oedd y sefyllfa bresennol, beth fyddai ein hanghenion newydd, a sut orau y caiff yr wybodaeth ei gynnwys a’i gyfleu. Awgrym y Grŵp Safle We, dan law Rhian Parry, oedd creu safle hyblyg y gallasai esblygu ac addasu i ateb y newidiadau yn y gofynion, i’r genhedlaeth i ddod. Byddai hefyd yn medru bod yn lleoliad ar gyfer cofnodion, papurau trafod, polisïau ac ar gyfer newyddion ar draws y wlad.

Safle we ar sail WordPress yw’r un presennol a dyna a fwriedir hefyd ar gyfer y safle newydd, ond gan ddefnyddio nifer o’r nodweddion mwy newydd sydd ar gael bellach.

Y bwriad yw y byddai’n cael ei adolygu’n rheolaidd iawn, ac iddo fod yn hawdd i hynny ddigwydd, i’r wybodaeth fod yn gyfoes bob amser, ac iddo fod yn ddolen gyswllt greiddiol i weithrediad y Gymdeithas yng Nghymru, yn gwrthwneud y pellterau sydd, mor aml, yn ein cadw ar wahân.

Yn y cyfamser mae dau ddatblygiad mawr wedi bod. Yn gyntaf Coronafirws19, sydd wedi’n caethiwo am rai misoedd ac a fydd yn ffactor yn ein bywyd corfforaethol am fisoedd i ddod. Mae hyn wedi pwysleisio’r angen am ffyrdd o gydgysylltu heb fod wyneb yn wyneb, a’r amlycaf o’r rhain yw Zoom. Ond mae’r safle we ei hun yn mynd i hwyluso hynny yn ogystal a bod yn le diogel ar gyfer gwybodaeth.Yr ail ddatblygiad yw’r broses ‘Symud Ymlaen’ sydd yn ceisio lleihau’r baich mae llywodraethiant yn ei osod ar ein hysgwyddau. Bydd safle we ganolog effeithiol yn allweddol er mwyn caniatáu i ni unwaith eto ystyried, gyda brwdfrydedd, cael cyfarfod wyneb yn wyneb, ac i roi tysiolaethu cymdeithasol ac ysbrydol yn ôl wrth galon ein Cymdeithas.

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Website: recent developments

Rhian Parry – Pwllheli (Bala) The Website Group have been in discussion with a website design company and have recently agreed a programme of work and fees for the work. It involves creating a new website – still using the WordPress platform – to make a much more attractive and flexible website, that can, eventually, be administered by a number of different groups, for their own purposes – local and area meetings, campaigns, etc.

Recent developments have shown how effective such a website could be, and the next few months will be a period of establishing the basis of the development, so that next year we can move ahead to realise the new facets that will then become available.

It’s a very timely development, as Coronavirus has shown us to be greatly in need of a medium that allows effective administration / governance when we are not able to meet face to face, and also to breakdown the arduous distances that seem to separate us so often. Reducing travel time will be beneficial in terms of environmental witness – though will never replace the absolute need to meet face to face for worship and fellowship. The other sizeable event, of course, is the Symud Ymlaen/Moving Forward process whereby the burdens of governance are being reviewed to allow the focus of the Society to return to Spiritual Hospitality / an enduring social witness.

Advocacy for Quakers and Wales Peter Hussey, Llandrindod Meeting

I clerk the Wales Focus Group of Meeting of Friends in Wales, which was set up about seven years ago to assist the Clerks by bringing forward matters of concern and import to Wales that Welsh Quakers would want to know about and possibly comment on.

The group now includes representatives from the four Welsh AMs and Southern Marches AM. For the February MFW I undertook a presentation about Wales, our situation as a religious society and the need for advocacy for both the nation and

our Society. Wales, I pointed out, is invisible to the majority of people in the UK, and that includes many people living here. Since devolution Wales has an enviable record of progressive initiatives, from something as minor as being the first to institute a charge for plastic carrier bags, to world leading legislation in the form of the “Well Being of Future Generations Act”. Yet many people living in Wales have little idea of this record, let alone those elsewhere in the UK.

Likewise within our own organisation there was legitimate reason for Friends from Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales to complain that English Friends were not aware of the differences in the day to day rules behind living in the devolved nations.

The different rules that have been applied during the Coronavirus pandemic have drawn attention to the differences as never before. This largely arose because the UK Government would decide on a move but did not seem to even think that the devolved Governments, who had specific responsibilities within that area, and were often more inclined to less impetuous and more considered responses, should be consulted.

Over the twenty years of devolution Wales has earned the right to be seen and for its initiatives to be learnt from. Just follow the progress of removing single use carrier bags from the system in England, to see that Wales' successes are just as ignored as its needs.

Quakers, with their tradition of testimonies, prophecy and discernment, can be clear on legislation and practice that moves towards (or against) equality, justice, fairness, peace and sustainability. We can and should be confident in our statements / comments, advocating to our MPs / MSs knowing that our discernment is based not on expediency, selfishness or greed but on the promptings of love and truth in our hearts. We may take a lead from the pressure groups petitioning for single issue outcomes but be friendly and assertive in making points of principle.

Covid19 has opened up possibilities for change. For example, lockdown has made many people more comfortable working from home rather than commuting and being confined to an office. How can infinite production be equated with a sustainable planet that we are not increasingly heating? The opportunity for change is open to

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mankind, but we have to build back better. We need a new green way of living and working.

The intent behind my second presentation to MFW in June of this year took that theme. What constitutes building back better? What does the Wales that we want look like? With the help of several Friends we drew together a spiritual manifesto for the future. It would be for a country living in peace with the rest of the World, asking for and using less than its share of planetary resources. Using tax and support to even out the differences. Innovative and imaginative in achieving its goals.

Now that we have got thus far, what next? When we divided the attendees at the June Zoom MFW we hoped that the breakout rooms for Friends to discuss the issues might lead to the creation of special interest and Google email groups that would work together to study and discuss their subjects without the constraints of geography. These groups would feed back information and opinion to the wider Quaker society.

Already the Transport and Technology group have forwarded an excellent quality response to the UK Government's request for ideas for the decarbonisation of transport. We also have groups for peace and education; Black Lives Matter; truth and integrity and economics and environment.

In addition, we have an email group for anyone with a Wales focus. For example how much do you know about the Internal Market Bill currently going through Parliamentary processes? Not just the headlines of how Boris Johnson is unravelling, but equally important the effect it will have on all three devolved nations? Wales has made so much progress over these twenty years it would be disastrous to see it lost.

To join any of the groups detailed above email Peter Hussey at tyolaf@gmail com.

MYNYDD LLANGATWG*

There's a mountain in my window

each morning when I wake up

there it is dimmed with mist or sharp

sun-cast into gloom or blanked out

by rain. Long and low, no peak

but a rounded crown, as if a standing giant

were buried to the top of his skull.

It looks massive, but is just a shell

over empty space

hollowed out by water: great caves,

warrens, squeezes of limestone

where little humans wriggle through

like an infestation.

It looks immutable; but men

have gouged long galleries

below the dome till it looks

like a stormtrooper's helmet.

The quarrymen are long gone.

The clawmarks will not heal.

It looks eternal; but it's not long

since its Ice Age birth. Time,

water, weather, men have worked it. Time will

wear it away utterly, and if by then

Valleys people and posh people still exist

they won't need to go over the top

to see one another's faces.

Maybe someday, though, long after

the houses in between have collapsed

and returned to woodland

so long that even the plastic roof-tiles

will have perished

as though they had never been, time

might throw up a new mountain.

©Stevie Krayer, February 2019

*Llangattock – Mountain in English

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On being admin

Jules Montgomery, MFW admin 2007 – 2020

When I went for this job, 13 years ago, it felt like a

departure for me in that it felt odd to mix

employment with my religion. They seemed

different fields, and I wasn’t sure that it was quite

the direction I wanted to take my working life in.

At the time I was home educating my two sons

and living in the final months of a self-build

project and house move. If I thought it was an

intense time then I had no idea what I was shortly

to be heading into.

Meeting of Friends in Wales quickly became a

significant part of my life, and unbeknownst to all

but a few, it was a haven and sanctuary through

some very rough years for me.

I lived through an extremely difficult breakdown

of my marriage and a prolonged and distressing

divorce. All of that was in the background for six

years. Throughout that there was this steady

group of Friends becoming part of my changing

life. I kept finding in them this huge sense of

dependability and even-handed kindness and

respect. Though unsung, there were one or two

close ‘Friends’ who were of immense support.

I have always enjoyed admin, in the way most folk

like Sudoku: I am comfortable with routine;

knowing what is supposed to go where and why.

MFW has afforded me the luxury of integrity. I

have enjoyed my contact with the clerks, co-clerks

and assistant clerks: Deborah, Catherine, David,

Julia, Ros, Christine, Catherine, Tricia, Jane, Ruth.

I am of the opinion that changing the world is an

inside job and my focus is all about the inward

adventure into the mind and my return Home.

Bringing work into this has been a lovely lesson;

bringing this into work has been a joy. I have

particularly enjoyed the start of business meetings

being a few minutes of silence.

I have counted my blessings many times. I have

felt safe. I have felt valued. I have admired the

process of Quakers as employers. I have enjoyed

the work, the ethics, and being part of this group,

but more I have enjoyed the company of Ffriends.

Over the years the actual job hasn’t changed

much, there have been the highlights and the

frustrations. I have appreciated your patience with

me. I have enjoyed adding my mark, usually

through photographic images and design.

The decision to move on came out of the blue. It

was sudden and it felt spirit-led through and

through. I spent a couple of days checking inward

but it was a firm and definite knowing.

I’m guessing something is completed here. I have

reached a place of healing and strength from

which we are ready to ‘step up our game.’

It seems perfect timing somehow although I can’t

actually see why at this point. I trust all will

become clear, what is it they say? “Hindsight has

2020 vision.” Well yes. 2020. Hmm.

I guess I need to catch another train and be on

that platform in good time, and meanwhile

Meeting of Friends in Wales has a new connection

to make with Quakers in Wales and their train will

be ‘Symud Ymlaen’ in the very near future. It feels

like The Guide is tooting His whistle and mapping

our route with an: “All change!”

What I will take with me is a sense of immense

gratitude and respect for the impact of Quakerism

on my life. When I started with Quakers in 2000 I

described ‘them’ as meeting you where you are on

The Path. I can see now that I have made much

progress, with their help, on that journey.

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I couldn’t resist stealing this final column for just a few of the limericks previously heard on the North Wales Area Meeting Noson Lawen

Ruth Moore Williams – Wrexham

There once was a Quaker called Margaret, Who used words to fire at a target.

‘There is no Godly gain To wear grey cloth so plain,

So Fox bought me silk in bright scarlet.’

Pat Denne – Bangor There was an old Quaker from Bangor,

After Meeting, a biscuit did hanker, No palm oil (unsustainable),

Chocolate shortbread, if obtainable, Though simplicity should really be our anchor.

Frances Voelcker - Porthmadog

Meeting on Zoom from the bedroom 40 Quakers come into my headroom

Although this is odd it’s a gift from God

at least they’re not there in the bathroom

Ruth Moore Williams – Wrexham There once was a Quaker called Tom Whose ministry was rather too long.

Friends’ patience was tried And some even cried,

But no-one would tell him he’s wrong

Gweinyddydd, rhan amser

Cyfarfod y Cyfeillion yng Nghymru

Rydym yn chwilio am Weinyddydd i weithredu

felpwynt cyswllt i Grynwyr yng Nghymru ac i

gynnig cymorth gweinyddol amrywiol. Gweithio

hyblyg o adref.

dyddiad cau : 30-09-2020

Administrator, part time Meeting of Friends in Wales

We are looking for an administrator to be the point of

contact for Quakers in Wales and to provide a variety

of administrative support. Flexible working from home.

closing date: 30-09-2020

manylion / details:

Crynwyrpwllheli.org/job

FOR YOUR DIARY Meeting of Friends in Wales – zoom session on

Saturday 24th October 9.30am – 1pm

Y brif eitem ar yr agenda yw ystyried symleiddio ein strwythurau yng Nghymru a Gororau’r De. Bydd Jonathan Carmichael o Friends House a Lesley Richards o Gwrdd Church Stretton yn ein harwain drwy’r trafodaethau.

The main item on the agenda is to consider the simplification of our structures in Wales and the Southern Marches. Jonathan Carmichael from Friends House and Lesley Richards from Church Stretton Meeting will lead us through the discussions.

HOW TO CONTACT US Please send your contributions to:

Calon Editor: Ros Morley, 01248 601315 email address: rosmorley3@gmail.com

THE DEADLINE FOR NEXT CALON:

20th November 2020 We welcome your input.